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When Jennifer and Jay, director of utilities for the city of Kearney, married seven years ago, they knew that raising a child would be an important part of their life together.

Following a frustrating four-year journey to become pregnant on their own, the couple contacted Starks who runs the Fertility Clinic at Midwest Women’s Healthcare. The doctor helps couples with the evaluation and management of fertility issues, including a friend of Jennifer’s.

Starks diagnosed Jennifer with endometriosis and performed surgery to remove several fibroids. He then recommended six different rounds of medication and artificial insemination. When these methods didn’t yield the bundle of joy the Bettis’s yearned for, they chose another route.

“I had three different sessions of abdominal injections along with artificial insemination, which was supposed to stimulate my ovulation,” says Jennifer. When that procedure was unsuccessful, Starks counseled the anxious couple about in vitro fertilization (IVF).

“Jay and I weighed the financial considerations and the chances of having a child and decided to try it,” says Jennifer, admitting that the couple didn’t want to raise their expectations that perhaps she would become pregnant. “Dr. Starks talked with us about our chances of becoming pregnant through IVF. While he said there were no guarantees, we felt good about our odds.”

Jennifer had an embryo transfer in March 2010, and later that month heard the news from Dr. Starks’ nurse, Karen, that caused the couple to rejoice.